


A Scarcity of Snickerdoodles

by TheseusInTheMaze



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, M/M, mundane AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-13 08:32:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12980181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheseusInTheMaze/pseuds/TheseusInTheMaze
Summary: What to do, when your favorite cookie is always sold out before you get to the shop, and all of the neat flavors are for coffee, which you think is gross?Arin and Dan in a coffee shop AU.





	A Scarcity of Snickerdoodles

**Author's Note:**

  * For [skyhillian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/skyhillian/gifts).



> Edited by Angel.
> 
> Happy holidays! I hope you enjoy it!

"It's not fair," said Dan's customer.

"Mmm?"

Dan was jolted out of his cash register daze, making eye contact with the guy.

He was usually a bit of a zombie on register - he could practically do it in his sleep at this point; hands on autopilot, the numbers-and-customer-service part of his brain taking the wheel. 

"It's not fair," Dan's customer said again, indicating the chalkboard menu.

"What's not fair?"

"You guys have all of these neat seasonal coffees," said the guy. 

This was a good looking guy, in a beefy sort of way - shoulders like a linebacker, his long hair tied back in a ponytail.

There was a blond streak, which seemed a bit out of place, but what did Dan know from current trends.

The shop was empty, apart from that one guy in the corner who was probably convinced that he was writing the next Great American Novel or something like that, but he was always there.

Small, independent coffee shops in Los Angeles weren't super popular at this time of day, which was why Dan usually drifted into some kind of fugue state, taking orders and cleaning up on autopilot.

"Would you like a seasonal coffee?" The spiel rose up in the back of Dan's throat; _We have peppermint, gingerbread, eggnog...._

"I don't like coffee," the guy said, and he smiled, looking self conscious. "I mean, I know it's kinda dumb for me to be annoyed about it in the first place, but you know... I _like_ seasonal shit. Just not... coffee."

"Huh," said Dan. 

He'd never thought of that.

Then again, he liked coffee.

"What do you drink?"

"I usually get a hot chocolate," the guy said, and okay, wow, he was blushing harder. "Shit. I'm sorry I said anything." 

"Nah, you've got a point," said Dan, his expression thoughtful. "I'll be totally honest with you though, I've gotta ask - why do you come to a coffee shop, if you don't like coffee?"

"You guys have good cookies," said the guy, and he was still looking embarrassed. "And the hot chocolate is good. Just, you know... variety."

"Right," said Dan. "So you'll be getting a hot chocolate?"

"Yeah, and a snickerdoodle."

"Sorry," said Dan, "we're out of snickerdoodles."

The guy made a face.

"Ah well," he said. "They're just so _good_ , ya know?"

"Oh yeah," said Dan. "They're usually sold out."

The guy looked... grumpy.

Hopefully he wouldn't yell at Dan.

... hopefully.

* * *

But he didn't!

The guy ordered his hot chocolate and an oatmeal raisin cookie (which was also pretty damn good, if Dan said so himself), and then he was out the door.

He left Dan a decent tip, too, which was unexpected.

Dan didn't think too much about it - his shift was almost over, and then he had band practice. 

* * *

The guy with the blond streak in his hair showed up again, this time with a very beautiful woman, who also had a blond streak in her hair.

The little flashes of blond amongst their equally dark hair caught Dan's eye.

The guy kissed the girl (his girlfriend? his wife?), and she smiled at him.

Dan caught a name - Aaron? Arin? - and then she was off on her way towards whatever beautiful women did.

Dan had never been around beautiful women long enough to actually know what they did on their own. 

Although then again, he wouldn't have known what they did on their own anyway, since if they weren't alone he'd be with them anyway....

And then the guy with the blond streak in his hair was standing in front of Dan's register, and Dan was coming back to reality, more or less.

Stupid mid-afternoon doldrums leaving him in some kind of weird headspace.

"Sorry, could you repeat that?"

Dan tried not to sound too sheepish.

"I said it's nice to see you again," said the guy.

"It's nice to see you again too," Dan said, his brain running on autopilot.

The store was empty - even the guy trying to write the next Great American Novel was someplace else.

"I'm glad you remembered me," said the guy.

"I mean, I don't see a lot of people with two tone hair these days," said Dan. "Apart from that girl you were with, I mean."

"Oh, that's Suzy." The guy grinned. "She's my girlfriend. Although, uh, she's going on a date right now."

"A date?"

"Yeah. We're, uh, we're trying the polyamory thing." He sighed, and he was making a face. "Sorry. I'm just... unloading on you."

There was a crack of thunder, and they both jumped.

"Meh?" Dan shrugged. "I'm not doing much of anything, and it's not like you're trying to convert me to a religion or doing the creepy stare thing."

He was stuck on a lyric, and sometimes talking to someone helped whack it loose.

"Well, I might as well tell you my name, if I'm gonna start blabbing about my own personal insecurities," said the guy. "I'm Arin."

"Arin?"

"Yeah," said Arin. "I spell it kinda weird."

"My first name is Leigh," Dan burst out, and okay, where did that come from? He didn't talk about that.

"Lee?"

"It's pronounced like that, but it's spelled with an E-I-G-H," said Dan. "I just... hate it."

"So your actual name is....?"

Dan pointed to his name tag.

"Dan," Arin read.

"Right," said Dan, and he smiled nervously. 

This guy was cute.

Why was he cute?

He was cute and he was taken, and Dan didn't really go in for dudes, but at the same time... this guy was obviously straight.

Why was he getting stomach butterflies, if this was some straight guy he was only meeting for the second time?

"But yeah," said Arin, and he leaned on the counter, his elbows resting on it.

He had very strong looking arms. 

"Yeah?"

Dan was looking into Arin's eyes.

They were very brown.

Um.

Crud.

Arin had a very nice face.

"My girlfriend is on a date with my friend, and I'm okay with it, mostly, it's just... weird, you know?"

"I guess?" Dan shrugged. "I've never done that kinda thing. I'm not as forward thinking as you young people."

"Us young people," Arin said, his tone teasing. "Because you're an old grandpa, huh?"

"I'm older than you," said Dan, sniffing.

Arin snorted.

"Well, I mean, there's nothing... wrong with the whole polyamory thing," said Dan quickly. "I've just never... you know, been into two people at the same time."

"Fair enough," said Arin. "Suzy was like that too."

"Your girlfriend?"

"Yeah," said Arin. "She's on a date, and she keeps telling me that I should go on dates, but... you know, it's hard to meet people."

"Oh, totally," said Dan. 

"Although I guess this kinda counts as meeting people, huh?" Arin made eye contact with Dan, and the both of them burst out laughing.

Why?

Maybe Dan was slap happy.

Maybe Arin was tired.

But... well, it was nice.

In a weird way.

"I'll take a hot chocolate and a snickerdoodle, please," said Arin.

"... we're out of snickerdoodles," Dan said, his tone apologetic. "Sorry."

"I'm gonna have to camp out here, I swear," said Arin, making a face. "I'll get an oatmeal raisin then, please."

"Of course," said Dan, and he went about the business of getting Arin's hot chocolate ready, and warming up his cookie.

When Dan handed Arin the cup, their fingers touched, and there was a little jolt of... something or other. 

_Oh_.

* * *

Arin came in again, two days later, and it was late enough in the evening that everyone had left.

Dan was the only one there.

"Hot chocolate, please," said Arin, and he looked so dejected that Dan wanted to hug him. "Hot chocolate and a snickerdoodle."

"We're out of snickerdoodles," Dan said, his tone apologetic.

"Of course you are," said Arin.

"... are you okay?"

Dan almost immediately regretted reaching out, because... ye gods, that was breaking the sacred bond of customer/barista.

But fuck it.

Everything was quiet, and Dan had been thinking about Arin more than he probably should have been.

"Yeah," said Arin, and he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. "I'm... my job is kinda getting me down. And I had to deal with this one dude who was telling me that I'm not a real artist, because I don't make money just from doing art."

"That's bullshit," Dan said, his tone scornful. "We all gotta eat."

"If I was a good enough artist, I wouldn't have to worry about that, because people would want to give me money for making art," Arin said. 

Oh.

He was in one of _those_ moods.

"Listen, dude," said Dan, and he leaned over the counter of the coffee shop, so that he was almost in Arin's face.

Arin looked startled, and this close, Dan could see the little flecks of gold in his brown eyes. 

Oh god.

"I'm in a band," Dan said, "and some day, I'm gonna make it big. Like, we're gonna be amazing. Playing at famous venues, the whole nine yards. But for now... well, I'm working here. Doesn't make me less of a musician."

"You're a musician?" Arin looked surprised.

"Oh yeah," said Dan. 

"I should've known," said Arin, and he was grinning a bit. "You look like one."

"I do?"

"Oh, totally," said Arin. "You're totally gonna be on a poster over someone's bed some day."

Dan was actually... blushing.

"Well, I'm sure your art is gonna be hung in galleries some day!"

"I'm an animator, actually," said Arin.

"Oh. Well, uh, maybe someday you'll be bigger than Disney!"

Arin burst out laughing at that, and Dan took that as a good sign, as he handed Arin the cookie and the hot chocolate. 

"Have a good day," he told Arin, as Arin paid.

"You too."

* * * 

They developed a routine.

It was weird, to have a routine like this with a customer - sure, Dan had his regulars, but he didn't usually... look forward to customers.

But Arin came in around the same time every other day, and Dan got into the habit of putting aside a cookie and a hot chocolate for him.

Although he never could save the snickerdoodles - his boss had yelled at him, the first time he'd tried it. 

They were just too damn popular.

Although it did strike the idea in Dan's head. 

* * *

It had been three months.

And Dan had gathered up all his courage, when he saw the familiar blond streak out the window, quickly mixing the drink up.

It took a bit more concentration than usual.

"Hi, Dan," said Arin, and he looked down again.

"HI," said Dan. "What's wrong?"

"You can always tell when something is wrong with me," Arin said, and he looked slightly... embarrassed?

Huh.

"I'm, uh, I'm good at reading people," said Dan. 

Truth be told, he was good at reading _Arin_ , but Arin didn't need to know that.

The guy was an open book, honestly, between his loudly telegraphed body language and his sweet, open face.

"I was gonna be going to an animation showing thing," Arin said, "but the person I was gonna go with bailed on me."

"I'm sorry," Dan said, and he made a sympathetic noise. "What kinda animation thing?"

"A friend of mine, their short ended up in it. So I was... I was kinda going on a date." And he was blushing.

Come to think of it, Arin was looking less... shlubby than usual.

He was wearing a pair of jeans, paired with a nice button down shirt. 

He'd even tied his hair back in an elegant ponytail, and some small part of Dan itched to run his fingers through it.

... god, he had it bad.

Dan had been so caught in how hangdog the other guy had looked that he'd missed it.

"When is this thing?"

"Like, three hours," said Arin. 

"... if you want some company to go with you, I get off shift in two hours," Dan burst out.

Arin blinked at him.

"I mean," Dan said, aware that he was starting to babble, not sure how to stop, "I'm gonna smell, like, ridiculously like coffee, but I like animation, and, uh -"

"Why would people mind you smelling like coffee?"

Arin hadn't said yes.

He hadn't said no, though.

Oh god.

"Well, uh, for me at this point, coffee smells like dirty laundry. Because when my clothes smell like coffee, it means I have to wash them."

"Oh," said Arin. "You know, I never thought of it like that."

"Yeah," said Dan. "Also. Um. Here."

He shoved the hot chocolate into Arin's hands, careful not to spill any of it.

His hands were shaking.

"Hot chocolate?"

"Right," said Dan. "It's on the house."

"Yeah?"

"Right," said Dan, and he tried not to watch Arin's face, as Arin took a swig of the hot chocolate.

Arin's face changed when he tasted it.

"What is this?"

"It's, uh... it's hot chocolate," said Dan, staring down at his own hands, and he was blushing. "Well, more accurately, it's white hot chocolate, only I added some nutmeg and some cinnamon, and cinnamon simple syrup. I'm thinking of, uh...." He cleared his throat. "I remember how you said that you wished you could try the weird seasonal drinks we have, and I was thinking how you were right, it's not fair that they're all coffee, so I thought maybe I'd try making hot chocolate, and I know you almost always miss the snickerdoodles, so I thought...."

"Snickerdoodle hot chocolate!" 

Arin was smiling widely, his eyes lighting up, his whole face as open as a sunflower. 

"Right," said Dan.

"This might be one of the sweetest things -"

"I can change the sugar content," Dan said quickly.

"The sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me," Arin said, before Dan could start babbling again.

Dan licked his lips, and he was blushing.

"So, uh, would you wanna be my date? Tonight, I mean." Arin cleared his throat, staring down into his cup, as if it could make all of this less weird.

Dan licked his lips, his heart thudding loudly in his ears. 

"I'd love to," he told Arin. 

"I'll pick you up from here when your shift is over," Arin said. "If that sounds good?"

"Yeah, that sounds great," said Dan. "And this is... I mean, you'd like it to be a date? Or a friend hang out?"

"... I mean, if you'd like it to be a date-date, I won't say no," said Arin. "Because... I mean, dude."

"I'd like it to be a date," Dan said, before his own nerves could catch hold of him. 

"So I'll see you in two hours," Arin said, and he reached over, squeezing Dan's hand. "Thanks for the drink."

"Of course," Dan said, and he squeezed Arin's hand back.

Arin's hand was very big, and very warm. 

He was still grinning when Arin walked out, the little bell over the door jingling.

Then Dan nearly sank to his knees, before rushing into the back room, where Barry, the other barista, was reading.

"Bar!"

"What's up?"

"You know about animation, right?"

Dan's heart was still beating very fast.

"I know a bit, yeah," said Barry.

"Okay," said Dan. "I need you to tell me... everything."

Barry gaped at Dan.

"What, everything-everything?"

" _Yes_!"

"Why?"

"... I've gotta impress someone," Dan said, and he was blushing now.

"Mister Hot Chocolate?"

"Shut up," Dan mumbled, but he leaned against the wall, as the enormity of what he had done came crashing down on him.

"Well," said Barry, "I could give you a crash course, I guess."

"Right," said Dan. "Crash course."

"So, like, if you really want to start talking about animation, you gotta start at...."

Dan let the talk wash over him.

His hand still tingled from the warmth of Arin's.

He caught a whiff of cinnamon and chocolate, and he smiled so wide that his jaw hurt, just a bit.

Totally worth it.


End file.
